DaVinci's catapults

This is information on Davinci's catapults.

Leonardo DaVinci, the Rennaissance man, needs no introduction. Most people know of this genius through the many books of history that mention great inventors, thinkers, and people who have influenced change. 

Are DaVinci's catapults the invention of these cross bow like war machines?

DaVinci lived from 1452 to 1519 and the catapult was in use in much earlier times. The Romans used them in war. As the legions of soldiers moved about to conquer or defend they would carry the ropes and fasteners and would use local wood to built and erect the foundation of the catapult.

Leonardo's drawings of catapults show that he was considering the spring action of leaf springs in the redesigning of a much older weapon. (1)

Leaf springs are simple springs that are built up of layers or leaves. One advantage of a leaf spring is that the end of spring can be designed in a way to send a trajectory along a guided path. Another advantage of a leaf spring is that it can be built of wooden layers which gives Davinci's catapults the same potential as a cross bow.

Catapults are like ballistas. The ballista was likely a Greek invention and came into being when inventors gained knowledge about tension spring. The Romans inherited the tension powered ballista technology from the Greeks.

The difference between a ballista and a catapult is that a ballista shoots a projectile on more of a curved arc than a catapult. War weapons like Davinci's catapults throw a trajectile more like a heavy cannon. The Romans ended up using the word ballista to describe all such weapons. (2)

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Resources

1 - A Leonardo DaVinci leaf spring catapult
2 - Encyclopedia Americana - popular dictionary of arts and science...Vol. 2, p.575